Top Rated Wines for Gifts

7 bottles that are sure to please

Rioja generally has three classifications to officially identify the quality and ageing process of their wines. Every so often, a vintage comes along that is so good that producers reach for yet another way to let their customer’s know about exceptional quality. They use the term “Reserva Especial” in these rare cases.

2001 was an exceptional vintage, and after many years of ageing, La Rioja Alta released its 2001 Vina Ardanza Reserva Especial. Let me tell you, it was worth the wait! This is an absolutely gorgeous bottle of wine with rich fruit, a silky texture and lovely integrated spice tones from extended ageing in oak barrels. This wine is resting in my cellar and at this price, it’s a value that simply can not be beat.

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Comments

Being a Cab bigot I was intrigued by the Hidden Rdge wine. I am totally unfamiliar with this winery and was also fascinated with the name "55% Slope." I was wondering if that meant that 55% of the grapes were mountain and 45% were valley floor. Well, some internet research lead me to the information that their vineyard is located in the Mayacamas Mountains on slopes that reach up to 55 degrees. Now a 55 degree slope is not the same thing as a 55 percent slope. So, the reporter may have mistaken that, but both of them are pretty darned steep.

I have to ask you, though, Greg, to take another look at the label. This appears to be a Sonoma vineyard, not Napa valley.

You know, I really should not have even commented on the Sonoma thing. The fruit is mountain grown. That tells me more about the wine than what side of the county line it's on--and in this case it happens to be real close to that line.

On the other hand, my comment that both 55 degrees and 55 percent were both steep was even more inaccurate. A 55 percent slope means that for every 100 feet of horizontal travel there is 55 feet of vertical travel. That is fairly steep. However, on a 55 degree slope, there will be more than 100 feet of vertical travel (143, actually) for every 100 feet of horizontal travel. That's not just steep, that is precipitous. Obviously, the reporter had that all wrong. Oh well, he's a wine guy, not a trigonometry guy.

Why not just find out what your friends would like? Isn't that the easiest way to satisfy tastes? All of the wines you recommend are surely very fine, but I see no champagne, or Barolo, no sweet dessert wines, all of which could be favored above the wines you recommend. I think it wise to know what your friends tastes are before offering something. An aged red Burgundy? Perhaps a fine Tuscan superwine? Perhaps a really good Port?